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■»niyFR*!TY  9?  M l 199!* 


KANSAS  STATE  UNIVERSITY, 


LAWRENCE. 


Suggestions  to  Superintendents  and  Principals  of 
High.  Schools  concerning  the  Requirements  in 
English,  for  Admission  to  the  Latin 
English,  or  to  the  General  Lan- 
guage Course. 


1890. 


SUGGESTIONS  CONCERNING  THE  REQUIREMENTS 
IN  ENGLISH. 


For  admission  to  the  Latin  English  or  to  the  General  Language 
Course,  the  requirements  in  English  are:  Lockwood’s  Lessons  in  Eng- 
lish; reading  of  the  seven  classics  suggested  in  Lockwood’s  Lessons; 
Rhetoric  (A.  S.  Hill,  Book  I,  or  D.  J.  Hill);  Lounsbury’s  English  Lan- 
guage, Part  I;  reading  of  ten  classics. 

Equivalents  for  the  above  course  will  be  accepted,  but  in  such  cases 
a careful  outline  of  the  work  done  must  be  presented  by  the  student 
when  applying  for  admission. 

Teachers  are  recommended  to  read  the  Introduction  to  Lockwood’s 
Lessons,  and  to  follow  as  far  as  possible  the  plan  of  work  there  sug- 
gested. Inasmuch  as  but  one  other  language  besides  English  is  re- 
quired for  admission  to  these  courses,  it  is  expected  that  much  time 
will  be  devoted  to  the  preparation  in  English.  At  least  two  full  years 
of  daily  recitations  will  be  requisite  to  accomplish  properly  the  work 
above  outlined. 

A high  degree  of  attainment  in  English  will  be  necessary  in  the  case 
of  students  applying  for  admission  to  these  courses. 

No  student  should  be  permitted  to  undertake  the  work  outlined  above 
until  he  has  mastered  the  essentials  of  English  Grammar. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  study  of  Lockwood’s  Lessons  there  should 
be  if  possible  daily  practice  in  writing.  If  classes  are  so  large  as  to 
render  this  impracticable,  there  should  be  at  least  three  written  exer- 
cises a week.  These  exercises  should  be  carefully  corrected,  and  re- 
turned to  the  pupil,  that  he  may  see  what  his  faults  are,  and  thus  be 
able  to  rectify  them.  Constant  practice  in  composition  will  be  neces- 
sary to  render  the  course  successful. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  High  School  work  teachers  are  recom- 
mended to  read  with  their  classes  the  selections  from  Irving,  cf.  Lock- 
wood’s Introduction,  XII.  The  teacher  should  see  that  the  pupil  grasps 
and  retains  the  story,  and  that  he  has  clearly  in  mind  an  outline  of 
what  he  has  read.  Every  allusion  and  obscure  point  should  be  explained 
and  dwelt  upon  until  the  student  is  thoroughly  familiar  with  his  text. 
The  use  of  the  dictionary  should  be  insisted  upon. 

While  it  would  be  of  advantage  to  read  all  of  the  indicated  classics 
in  the  class-room,  this  will  of  course  be  impossible.  Enough  can  be 
done,  however,  to  show  the  pupil  how  such  reading  should  be  carried 
on.  Pupils  should  be  required  to  give  reports  in  class  of  all  works 
read  out  of  the  class-room.  All  outside  reading  should  be  tested  by 
essays  upon  subjects  selected  from  the  works  read. 

After  the  elements  of  Rhetoric  are  mastered,  rhetorical  analysis  should 


be  begun.  The  subjects  of  Purity,  Propriety,  Precision,  and  Figures, 
should  be  carefully  illustrated  in  connection  with  the  works  read. 

In  the  first  year  of  the  study  of  Lockwood’s  Lessons,  one  work  should 
be  read  in  class.  The  teacher  should  discuss  in  addition  to  the  story, 
the  more  important  characters  involved.  This  must  of  course  be  some- 
what general,  but  enough  should  be  done  to  make  the  student  see  the 
leading  traits  of  every  character,  and  the  relations  which  the  characters 
bear  to  each  other. 

During  the  second  term,  the  reading  should  be  made  still  more  crit- 
ical, with  especial  regard  to  structure.  The  meaning  of  idioms,  the 
choice  and  use  of  words,  the  construction  and  relations  of  sentences, 
the  nature  of  the  paragraph,  should  all  be  considered.  This  work  must 
be  carefully  done,  that  the  student  may  continue  his  reading  privately 
with  advantage. 

In  the  first  term  of  the  second  year  of  the  study  of  Lockwood’s  Les- 
sons, a poem  should  be  made  the  subject  of  class-room  study.  Gold- 
smith’s Traveller , or  Deserted  Village , is  suggested  as  being  admirably 
adapted  for  this  purpose.  Poetry  offers  much  greater  opportunity  for 
analysis  and  criticism  than  prose.  The  language  of  the  poem  should 
be  paraphrased,  and  the  author’s  meaning  fully  brought  out,  the  peculi- 
arities of  poetical  style  explained,  and  the  function  of  figures  of  speech 
carefully  illustrated.  The  habit  of  memorizing  choice  extracts  should 
be  insisted  upon. 

It  is  believed  that  the  above  hints,  if  put  into  practice,  will  increase 
very  greatly  the  interest  in  technical  study,  and  fully  prepare  a student 
to  enter  with  profit  upon  the  advanced  work  of  the  University. 

In  connection  with  the  study  of  Lounsbury,  it  will  be  found  of  value 
to  bring  before  the  class  the  works  of  various  authors,  and  to  determine 
in  a general  way  the  origin  and  history  of  words  used. 

The  ten  classics  to  be  read,  apart  from  those  suggested  in  Lockwood’s 
Lessons,  may  be  selected  from  the  following  list.  Equivalents  will  be 
accepted;  but  in  such  cases  the  student  must  present  a written  state- 
ment of  what  he  has  read,  with  the  reason  for  varying  from  the  course. 

1.  Shakspere’s  Merchant  of  Venice. 

2.  Shakspere’s  Julius  Caesar. 

3.  Shakspere’s  As  You  Like  It. 

4.  Goldsmith’s  Vicar  of  Wakefield. 

5.  Goldsmith’s  Traveller,  and  Deserted  Village. 

6.  Bunyan’s  Pilgrim’s  Progress. 

7.  Lamb’s  Tales  from  Shakspere. 

8.  Addison’s  Sir  Roger  de  Coverley. 

9.  Scott’s  Ivanhoe. 

10.  Scott’s  Kenilworth. 

11.  Scott’s  Marmion. 

12.  Hawthorne’s  House  of  the  Seven  Gables. 

13.  Hawthorne’s  Marble  Faun. 

14.  Dickens’s  Tale  of  Two  Cities. 

15.  Macaulay’s  Essays  on  Milton  and  Dryden. 

16.  Keats’  Eve  of  St.  Agnes. 

17.  Irving’s  Bracebridge  Hall. 


18.  Johnson’s  Lives  of  Swift  and  Gray. 

19.  Johnson’s  Lives  of  Addison  and  Pope. 

20.  Milton’s  Comus. 

Teachers  will  find  the  following  books  useful  in  their  own  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  of  this  course: 

Genung’s  Practical  Rhetoric.  (Boston,  Ginn  & Co.  Price  $1.40.) 

Genung’s  Handbook  of  Rhetorical  Analysis.  (Boston,  Ginn  & Co. 
Price  $1.25.) 

Trench  on  the  Study  of  Words,  20th  edition.  (New  York,  Macmillan 
& Co.  Price  $1.) 

Skeat’s  Etymological  Dictionary,  American  edition.  (New  York, 
Macmillan  & Co.  Price  $2.50.) 

Marsh’s  Lectures  on  the  English  Language.  (New  York,  Charles 
Scribner’s  Sons.  Price  $3.50.) 

Hodgson’s  Errors  in  the  Use  of  English.  (New  York,  D.  Appleton 
& Co.  Price  $1.50.) 

Strang’s  Exercises  in  English.  (Boston,  D.  C.  Heath  & Co.  Price 
35  cents.) 

Correspondence  relating  to  the  details  of  this  work  is  cordially  in- 
vited. CHARLES  G.  DUNLAP, 

Professor  of  English  Language  and  Literature . 


rv.i&P*3-'**  ***** 


